Springfield remembers Sept. 11 with tribute to first responders

State Rep. Carlos Gonzalez speaks at the ceremony.
Reminder Publishing photos by Sarah Heinonen

SPRINGFIELD — Memories are made of sights, smells and sounds. Twenty-three years after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, members of Springfield first responder community remembered where they were on what John Sjoberg, chair of the Spirit of Springfield, called, “A day when time stood still, but our first responders did not.”

Riverfront Park was filled with Springfield residents, officials and first responders, gathered in front of the now 5-year-old Sept. 11 Memorial. The memorial is centered around an I-beam from the twin towers of the Word Trade Center, destroyed when two commercial planes were flown into them.

“Everyone remembers at 8:46 a.m. on Sept. 11 where they were,” Springfield Police Superintendent Lawrence Akers choked up recalling walking into a restaurant and seeing the footage of the first plane hitting the north tower and being rivetted to the TV, along with a room full of strangers. “It took a tragedy like this to being out country together, even for a short time.”

As the sun set, lights illuminated the memorial’s I-beam and cast shadows of the twin towers on a bronze wall, enscribed with the names of the 498 first responders who died that day.

Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno asked, “When everybody is running away from that structure, who is running toward that structure? First responders.”

State Rep. Carlos Gonzalez (D-Springfield) said the actions of first responders, volunteers and “everyday citizens who rushed to help” is “a testament to the enduring spirit of our country.” He added, “They knocked down the bricks and mortar, but they never knocked down the spirit of our great nation,” before calling out, “Unidos! United! One nation.”

Springfield Fire Commissioner B.J. Calvi spoke about the mobilization of all 10,000 New York City firefighters, how some responded to the scene in their private vehicles because the fire trucks had already answered the call. He told the stories of firefighters who refused orders to evacuate the towers, so they could locate more survivors.

“This was the Pearl Harbor of our generation,” Calvi said.

American Medical Response Regional Director Patrick Leonardo reminded those gathered that Springfield “was not untouched by Sept. 11,” and that local people lost loved ones. Referring to the memorial, he said that it “reminds us that, even in the darkest times, we can find light in community.”

Massachusetts Air National Guard Col. David Halasi-Kun reflected that many of the people at Westover Air Base were not yet alive when Sept. 11 happened, but that those who were are charged with carrying those memories. He recalled from his own memories, “A line of cars as 3,000 people tried to get on base at the same time,” “the lines outside of the Red Cross,” and “the line outside of the recruiter station — people saying, ‘Send me.’” He pointed out that the death toll from Sept. 11 includes those died oversees in the War on Terror in the 20 years that followed.

Many sights and sounds were added to the memory of this Sept. 11 — the short, clipped commands of the joint Police and Fire departments’ color guard, a three-rifle volley , the ceremonial ringing of the fire bell, “The Star-Spangled Banner” sung by Vanessa Ford, who Sarno referred to as “Springfield’s songstress,” a member of the Police Department sounding taps. At the climax of the ceremony, first responder vehicles representing the local police and fire departments, as well as ambulances and state police, could be seen rolling out over Memorial Bridge, lights flashing, sirens echoing off the Connecticut River, as though they were answering the call of a great disaster.